Elvish Education
by Deanie
Summary: (BtVS/LotR) Eternal student Legolas gets technical help from computer tutor Willow.


Title: Elvish Education  
Author: Deanie  
Rating: PG13   
Pairing: Willow/Legolas  
Genre: BtVS/LotR Crossover.   
Pairing #111 at the Quickie Challenge Site ()  
Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own these characters. Willow and the Buffy crew belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Lord of the Rings belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien.  
Distribution: please ask  
Author's Notes: For Buffy, this takes place in the future, after Tara's death, but with Willow back in school. For "Lord of the Rings," this story becomes AU in assuming that Legolas has been on earth for thousands of years, and never went to Valinor.  
  
****  
  
The first time she saw him she stopped right in the middle of campus and stared. She was captivated by his long blond hair and luminescent skin. And when he smiled, laughing at a pair of squirrels chasing each other around a tree, she was lost. He was the most gorgeous creature - male or female - she'd ever seen, and she had to get to know him better. She wasn't the type to just introduce herself to a guy (or lately, even like a guy in the way she was beginning suspect she could like her mystery man), but there was something about him...something almost magical that drew her.  
  
Midway across the courtyard, Willow turned as someone called her name. As her classmate caught up with her, chatting about the upcoming test, she snuck a glance at the sexy man.   
  
He was no longer sitting on the bench, enjoying the sunlight and watching the squirrels. Willow looked around the busy campus, but he was nowhere to be found.   
  
She sighed, unable to concentrate on talking about homework when she knew he was out there. But, short of wandering around campus aimlessly, hoping to catch a glimpse of her mystery man, she had no way to find him. She didn't even know his name...  
  
Sighing, Willow turned back to the conversation. He had books, so he must be a student. Maybe he'd come back to the same place tomorrow. Glancing at her watch, Willow waved goodbye to her friend and headed over to the computer lab. She had a tutoring session to get to.  
  
***  
  
Throughout his thousands of years in this world, Legolas Greenleaf, formerly Prince of Mirkwood, had been a student of many things. In his youth, he had studied language in the halls of his father, from the finest tutors in all of Mirkwood. He had not had much patience for learning then, preferring to practice archery or ride out on the hunts. In the years that passed, he had developed a much different perspective. Art, music, literature, language...each new thing the race of man developed was a new adventure to explore. In the latter years, it had been mathematics, science, and technology that ruled the human world, bringing such fascinating inventions as the steam engine, the electric light, and the current bane of his existence - the personal computer.  
  
More fearsome than the great flying airplane, more deadly than the automatic revolver, one tiny box sitting on his desk had power the likes of which he had not been able to conceive. He had avoided this new technology, as he had with much prior. Though thousands of years had passed, but he was still a woodland elf, never more at home as in the forest with his bow and arrows. However, he lived in modern society, and needed to conduct himself as a modern man. Therefore, eschewing courses he would prefer to take, he had registered for "Introduction to Computer Science," which, needless to say, was not going well. For the first time in his considerably long life, he needed a tutor.  
  
So, he was on his way to the computer lab to meet Ms. Willow Rosenberg, a reputable computer scholar by all accords. Perhaps she could aid him in understanding this dread machine.  
****  
  
Willow had made good time across campus and was actually early for her tutoring session. She smiled as she strolled into the computer lab. Dozens of students were busy typing, the familiar clacking of the keyboards a comforting sound. Aah, technology. She loved it. Willow waved at her computer study buddy Liz, currently manning - or should that be 'womanning?' - the lab's help desk. "Is my 3:00 tutoring session here yet?"  
  
"Not yet," Liz replied. "Grab a computer and I'll send him back when he gets here."  
  
Willow nodded and headed to the more private workstations in the back.   
  
She was so focused on getting her stuff out and ready that she didn't hear her student come up behind her. "Willow Rosenberg?" asked a slightly accented voice. Turning around, she stopped suddenly. It was the man from the courtyard. Right there. In front of her. Willow blinked. Was he a figment of her imagination? Nope. Not going away when she blinked. And she was sure she wasn't asleep.   
  
Okay... not hallucinating, not dreaming... All rational thought had fled her mind when he'd appeared in front of her. She knew she needed to say something. Unfortunately, 'take me, I'm yours' would be wildly inappropriate.   
  
Breathe. She had to breathe. And try to think.  
  
Legolas stared at the vision before him. Her hair shone like fire, her green eyes glittered with intelligence... and suddenly he realized she wasn't saying a word. What if this image of loveliness was not the woman he sought? His heart plummeted at the thought of not being able to spend time in her presence.   
  
"Hi," She finally managed to get out a word. Not great mentally-stimulating conversation, but it was better than just staring. "Willow. Is me. Come. Sit. Learn."  
  
"I'm Legolas Greenleaf," he said.   
  
"Ooh, pretty name." Figures that such a gorgeous man would have a pretty name. And so exotic.  
  
"It's an old family name." He gave the usual explanation. Though his name was strange by modern day standards, it was part of his true self, part that he couldn't abandon. He couldn't help but notice that she was staring at him. Could she have sensed what he truly was? He quickly verified that his magical shields were firmly in place, with nothing to mark him as different from the average American college student.  
  
Willow smiled. See, she could do this. Have a conversation. With words that made sense. She breathed deeply. Goddess, he smelled good. Fresh and woodsy. Must concentrate on computers.  
"Shall we begin?"  
  
****  
An hour later...  
As she spoke, his gaze was inadvertently drawn to her mouth. Her delicate lips were the color of roses, so soft and tempting. Focus. He had to remember to focus on *what* she was saying, not merely the charming way she was saying it.  
  
"Do you think you've got it?" she asked, bringing him back to reality.  
  
Got it? So captivated by her beauty, he barely remembered anything she'd said for the last few minutes. But he certainly couldn't be so forward as to tell her that. This was their first meeting, and he was unsure as to whether his attraction was reciprocated. He thought he'd caught her staring at him when she thought he wasn't attentive to her actions, but for all he knew she could have been staring because she was dumbfounded by his technical ineptitude.  
  
Willow looked over at Legolas. He had this glassy-eyed look, like nothing she'd said had made sense. Sure, she'd been a little distracted by the way the sunlight danced on his hair, and way his eyes sparkled when he laughed... okay, maybe she hadn't been making any sense. Had she completely confused him? She only hoped she hadn't been babbling too much. "Don't worry if it's a little overwhelming at first. You'll get it." She patted his arm in reassurance.  
  
Shivers raced through his body at the briefest touch of her hand. He hadn't felt so out of sorts since he had been a young elf in the midst of his first infatuation. She was captivating, in a way no other woman had been for millennia. Though with his poor concentration he'd learned little this afternoon, he still did not want his time with her to end.  
  
Her hand tingled from the momentary contact with his. She hadn't felt this way in so long... since long before Tara died. She almost hoped that he didn't catch on to the computer work too quickly... she wanted to have lots of tutoring sessions with her sexy pupil.  
  
Even knowing that he would see her in a few days for another computer tutoring session, Legolas was unwilling to let her go. "Would you like to get a cup of coffee?"  
  
Though startled by his question, Willow smiled. Could it be that her feelings for him might be mutual? "I'd love to."  
  
Legolas smiled. Perhaps some good would come from his battle with the dreaded computer after all. 


End file.
